Golden Winter Dreams
by Chocobo-Cloud
Summary: Roxas is a member of the American Olympics team. With his teammates and a new friend in tow to support him every step of the way, nothing can bring down the snowboarder. That is, if Roxas' previous team doesn't open old wounds first. Welcome to Vancouver.
1. Arrival

**A/N**- Hello! It may be surprising to learn this, but I'm a really big fan of the Winter Olympics, more so than the Summer Olympics, even. And, I've be been watching the said sporting competition for the past two weeks nonstop, which pretty much explains how this little story came it. The chapters _will _be pretty short (you can see how short it is just glancing right now! c: ), but here's the catch, you wonderful people! The chapters _will _come **often**. I can't exactly put a specific period of time on **often **right now, since a member of my family is deathly ill at the moment, but I all ready have two more chapters written, and I just need to type and post! There will be roughly… six or seven chapters? Maybe more! But, I'm talking too much! Go on and read this, if you'd like! Please enjoy! (Note- I was watching Apolo Ohno in short track while editing this. If I have a blatant error or a keyboard smash, please point it out! I won't be offended at all c: )

**Disclaimer**- Vancouver, not mine. Kingdom Hearts, not mine. The Olympics, not mine. Winter Sports, not mine. Snowboarding, Speed Skating, Moguls Skiing, and Figure Skating, not mine.

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"Why can't you open the door, Sora?"

"Hold your horses, Riku! I can't the thingy to go in correctly…"

"That's what she said!"

"Hayner!"

"I can't believe that I'm housing with the lot of you," Roxas mumbled under his breath. He leaned back, an amused smile on his face as he watched his friends and fellow teammates struggle with the cardkey to their shared condo. Riku glanced over his shoulder after deciding to let Sora, Hayner, and Olette fight to open the door by themselves, and smiled to the smaller boy.

"You're going to be with us for the next few weeks. Maybe you'll… warm up to us," the silver haired speed skater offered. Roxas laughed good-heartedly at this, his already pink cheeks deepening in color with friendly warmth.

"Don't be daft, Riku. You know you all are great people." Roxas punched the older man in the shoulder before ducking inside the room that Olette had successfully opened.

"You guys are luck to have a woman here! This lovely condo would be a sty in minutes without me!" She announced, giving a graceful twirl about the pristine living room. Everything was beautifully minimalist. The walls were a clean white, accented with dark wood cabinets and colorful pieces of art. Exhausted, Roxas kicked his shoes off at the threshold of the door and slumped down onto the nearest couch. He draped his athletically sculpted body onto the soft cushions and sighed.

Sora, of course, decided that he wouldn't tolerate a tired teammate on the first night of the Olympics, and proceeded to jump on the couch, right next to Roxas' tired head.

"Roxas! You can't be tired now! It's our first night here in Vancouver! Let's go explore the town or something!" Sora exclaimed in a voice loud enough for the Finnish team down the hall to hear. Riku threw his hand over the boy's mouth and dragged him off the couch, away from Roxas.

"Sora, it amazes me how you have so much energy right after the opening ceremony. Let's settle down first before we decide to do anything-"

"Who wants some beer?!" Hayner popped into the room, his arms full of clear bottles containing bubbling gold liquid, a devious smile on his face. Olette followed in suit, a frown stretched across her lightly painted lips.

"We will not be making fools of ourselves on the first night here! We're representing America, you guys! You could at least pretend that you want to keep a good public image," the figure skater warned. Hayner shrugged, throwing a bottle to his fellow snowboarder, Roxas.

"Rox and I won't get drunk, 'lette. We're going to an early practice in the morning, so no worries."

"Actually," Riku began while pulling a full beer bottle out of Sora's under-aged hands, "We have to go to a press conference at noon tomorrow, so one beer only for all the _legal_ people here." The speed skater smirked at the pouting moguls skier.

"But **Riku**! I'm 20, and we're at the _**Olympic Games**_! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Sora retorted. The two American snowboarders exchanged glances and shrugged as Roxas nonchalantly handed his beer back to Hayner, who had his 21st birthday only a month earlier.

"Sora, we're going to be followed around by the medial from here on out. Let's start the Olympics off well, and clean, okay?" Riku smiled happily as Sora handed over his beer.

Olette crossed her arms over her chest in triumph. She turned to look out the large floor-to-ceiling window that stretched out before her with a content sigh. There was a small dock poised before them, water blackened by the fall of night splashing gently and twinkling in the street light beyond it. The lit-up, pulsing city of Vancouver glowed in friendly welcome to the athletes residing in the Olympic Village. Olette watched in contentment as other teams hugged each other in celebration of their arrival before hurrying into nearby condos to settle in and prepare for the weeks' up and coming challenges.

"I guess we could pop open a sparkling champagne for Sora and Roxas. We don't want to leave them out of the festivities, too," Olette gave in. She crossed the room to the large cooler Hayner had dragged in, pulling out a dark green bottle. Sora gave a cheer, and leapt off the sofa before Riku could tell him otherwise. The brunettes frowned at what they found in the bottom of the cooler.

Or, the lack there of.

"Aw man, all the ice melted!" Sora cried, holding a bubbly glass he had found in the cabinet sadly. Roxas pulled his tired body off of the couch and gave his cousin a smile.

"I'll go fetch some ice, So." Roxas found a tin (or was it sterling silver?) bucket along the alabaster marble counter and walked to the door.

"Are you sure, man? One of us can go with you," Hayner offered. The blonde shook his head with a sincere smile.

"I've gotta clear my head from the opening ceremony, but thanks anyway."

Roxas slipped out of the room before someone could say otherwise.

"Man…" Sora said, wringing his hands along the champagne bottle. "What's eating Roxas? Is he that bummed about being underage?" Riku shook his head knowingly, turning his gaze away from the door and back into his friend's eyes.

"Think about it, Sora. This is the first competition, the biggest competition in the world-at that- Roxas has been in since two years ago, and it's with a new team," Riku explained calmly. Sora's mouth opened slightly, as if to make a response, but nothing came out. Hayner glanced from a silent Olette to an even more silent Riku. The dirty blonde cleared his throat and ran a hand through his unruly hair.

"It's been hard on him ever since he left the Great Britain team. I mean; can you imagine getting so injured that your team doesn't accept you back? It's like… you were one of the best players, but during the injury your team backstabs you and leaves without even a, 'it was nice to have been on a team with you'. It's down right wrong, man! Rox's trying to start clean with us, but the pressure from the media to do well is gonna pile on soon, and Great Britain is gonna try and get under his skin, you guys know that." Hayner stood up from his perch on the kitchen's counter and stretched out his back. Olette folded her hands, staring at the ground.

"Keep your eyes on him, okay boys? I've got my short program to start practicing for, so I won't be around too much these next few days; but just treat him like he's one of your own, okay?" Olette asked gently. Hayner, Sora, and Riku smiled back to their only female friend.

"Of course, 'lette!" Sora chirped.

"He's already one of our own," Riku added before twisting off the cap of his beer. Hayner nodded in reply, did the same to his own bottle, and clinked his alcoholic beverage with Riku's.

"To Roxas."

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A/N- So! How did you guys like it? C: It felt really weird writing a sports-oriented story, but I kind of like the feel of it! Um, in case you were wondering, Roxas and Sora are both twenty, Olette and Hayner are twenty-one, and Riku is twenty-two/almost twenty-three. I don't really know why I made Roxas and Sora youngest, it just seemed to unfold that way. I hope it was all right! The next chapter will be up as soon as I steal a computer this weekend! I'm predicting either late tomorrow or Sunday :) Ah, anyway! Please take care everyone! Reviews are loved so much! (And, as always, so are you!)

Catchya on the flipside! –Chocobo

**In the next chapter:**

"Well, that explain the accent."

"We have one too, smarty pants."


	2. New Friends

**A/N**- Alright everyone! Here is the second chapter! It's a tiny bit longer than the last one, but still the relative same length. Two new athletes are introduced (guess who!) and I hope you'll welcome them with open arms. Also, today is the last day of the Olympics, and even though USA lost to Canada in the Men's Hockey Final, it was a good run, and I hope everyone is proud of their country's athletes for the hard work they've put in!

Also, thank you to **Iceprincess89023 **for reviewing!

At the end of the story, I have a very important question for you guys to answer, so please look at it before you click the back button! Anyway, enjoy! C:

**Disclaimer**- If I owned the Olympics or the event, Apolo Ohno and Shaun White would be together in one event. They're not. If I owned Kingdom Hearts, all the nobodies wouldn't have died. They did :c

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Roxas ran his fingertips along the outer-rim of the ice holder, the once soft skin of his hands having seen years and years of what the London-born boy's mother called 'snowboard abuse'. Roxas' palms were now rough and slowly becoming more and more calloused. It didn't matter to the snowboarder, though. His lithe hands were placed in thick, insulating gloves that were used to grip the hard plastic of his board. Roxas laughed to himself. He would never get a girlfriend if he didn't treat his body better. The blonde's mind swam with the thoughts of using_-gasp_-moisturizers or something creamy and feminine smelling to possibly smooth the cracks and roughness of his poor, overused hands. The boy shook his head quickly at the thought, not seeing where the hallway was taking him.

Of course, it was all too late when Roxas' clear blue eyes finally did focus on the carpeted hall.

There was no time to turn around a run back down the hallway, into the safety of the American team's condo, and under one of the homemade quilts Sora and Olette had made during late night practices. The eye contact had been made between Roxas and the people at the end of the hallway. And, of course, everyone knows that once you make eye contact with someone, it is insanely rude to turn, break into a sprint, and dive into your room. No, Roxas was not going to be insanely rude. He stood his ground and tried his best not to stare at the two men chatting toward the end of the pristine hallway. But, the redhead man was the one that turned and made the steel-strong eye contact with Roxas before the young snowboarder had a chance to put his escape plan into action. The man, Roxas noticed, was aesthetically… interesting. His eyes were an impossible shade of piercing, earthy green whereas his hair was a cascade of crimson fire. It was a colorful senses overload, really.

To Roxas' surprise, which almost caused him to drop the ice bucket in his hands, the stranger smiled to him and waved in a congenial sort of way as if they were old friends being reunited for the first time in several years. The other man that had been conversing with the friendly athlete turned around with a bemused look on his face. This man, as Roxas had correctly guessed, was as interesting as his companion. His hair was sandy in color and seemed longer in the back than in the spiked front, worn in a once popular, but clearly outdated style. The mulled-hawked athlete had sea blue eyes that held a certain soft undertone to them, unlike Sora and his intense blue irises. The strange subtle beauty (if that was the correct word to use) captivated Roxas, which is probably what compelled the boy to approach the two men. Roxas gave a meek smile, tapping the outside of the ice tin as he took a few steps forward.

"Excuse me, could you tell me where an ice machine is?" The young snowboarder asked. The sandy haired man opened his mouth, but it was the redhead who spoke.

"You're Roxas Westcourt, aren't you?" The tall boy asked. Roxas stared at the stranger in blatant disbelief.

"I'm… afraid I don't know you, but yet, that's my name," the blonde replied.

"Is this a friend of yours, Ax?" Mullet-hawk asked. The redhead shook his head, but smiled and held his hand out to Roxas.

"I'm Axel Gagnon, and this is Demyx Martin-"

"Hi there," The 'Demyx' character chirped.

"I think we were in the Quarterfinals together in Torino. I'm a snowboarder for the Canadian team," Axel explained. Roxas stared at his shoes as if trying to recall the memory. The only thing that came to his mind was the accident that had occurred that night, and the lingering pain of his shattered femur.

"I'm sorry, I can't remember your face, but the whole event was… foggy."

"Hey, you're not the boy from Great Britain that took the nasty dive, were you?" Demyx asked. Axel smacked the cross-country skier in the arm. '_Be polite!' _the tall Canadian hissed. Roxas' face reddened as he switched the ice holder into his other arm. _Is this the only thing I'll be remembered for?_ Demyx waited for a response, but only got awkward, uncomfortable silence in return. "…You're not wearing Great Britain colors," Demyx observed like Captain Obvious himself. Roxas shook his head

"I'm not playing for Britain anymore. My cousin, Sora Westcourt, is a cross-country skier on the American team. After my injury," Roxas began, clarifying that he was indeed the boy that took the 'nasty dive', "I needed so much physical therapy and surgeries that my team couldn't wait for me to heal. They took in another snowboarder in my absence, so Sora took me to America where I trained and became a member of their team. Getting citizenship in order to qualify for the American Olympic team was a pain, though. But…" the blonde gave a small shrug, "Gotta do watch gotta do if you love a sport." Axel smiled sympathetically to the American team member. Demyx scratched the back of his head.

"Well, that explains your accent," he stated blatantly.

"We have an accent too, moron."

"Gah, whatever!" Demyx cried. Axel smiled once again to the smaller boy and hitched his thumb over his shoulder.

"The ice machine was that way, my friend."

"Thanks," Roxas said with an equally kind smile, "I guess I'll be seeing you around."

"Of course!" Axel agreed, "If I catchya on the half-pipe anytime soon, I'll be sure to stop and give a shout. Who knows, maybe even do a little trick showcasing." The redhead gave a casual shrug. Roxas chuckled and shook his head playfully.

"We're supposed to be competing, not giving away the secrets of our trade, right?" The blonde asked with a smirk. Axel shrugged.

"Hey, we're the host country."

"If we say jump, jump!" Demyx joked in his loud, melodious voice. Axel rolled his eyes.

"Wrong use of phrase, Demy." The redheaded Canadian, in all his heavy accent beauty, slugged the American in the arm. "Anyways, enjoy your stay here. We'll chatchya soon, eh?" Roxas nodded and tried not to laugh at the blatantly placed Canadian stereotype.

"I'll see you around, Axel, Demyx." The small snowboarder knocked fists with the other boarder and the skier (which he would have to tell Sora about) and maneuvered around the pair before traveling down the stretch of the corridor to a small room titled 'VENDING' with a neat, silver plaque. Roxas opened the door and slipped in. As the ice machine rumbled in preparation, the blonde found a small smile gracing his lips as he played the conversation he had just taken part in over in his head.

_Maybe… this won't be such a bad Olympics after all…_

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**A/N**- How did you guys like it? :) I hope it was good! Did Demyx and Axel seem to have good sporting positions? I had a hard time deciding what event Demyx would be in, but he seemed like a long endurance kind of guy with his body type in all. Anyway, here's the question I need you guys to answer!

Should Axel and Roxas have a: **a)** romantic relationship / **b)** a hinted relationship / **c)** friendship only?

It's really important that I get as many replies on this as I can! I want to make it realistic enough, but if you guys choose enough of a or b, I will definitely make it happen! Also, the next chapter may take up a bit longer to get up because it is _very _long compared to this chapter! Reviews would be greatly appreciated! Take care!

-Chocobo

In the next chapter:

"Ah, well, Mr. Westcourt-"

"You can call me Roxas, actually, since there's two Mr. Westcourts present."


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